Eagles’ Mekhi Becton rips MetLife Stadium ahead of Giants game. Lane Johnson disagrees.
Becton didn’t hold back when asked about his former home stadium, according to CBS Sports.
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Saquon Barkley makes his return to MetLife Stadium on Sunday against his former team, the New York Giants, for the first time since signing with the Eagles in the offseason. But the visit isn’t just a reunion for Barkley. Mekhi Becton also returns to the stadium he once called home — and he doesn’t seem too happy about it.
“I don’t want to play in that [expletive] stadium,” Becton said, via CBS Sports. “It’s bad. Everything is just bad about that stadium. I don’t really like it. I’m just glad I only got to do it one time a year. Just got to go in there, do my 1-11 and go home.”
Becton is very familiar with the stadium, playing with the New York Jets for the first four years of his career after they selected him with the 11th pick in the 2020 NFL draft. The Eagles signed the ex-Jets offensive tackle to a one-year, $5.5 million contract in the offseason — and Becton not only switched positions, he also earned the starting job at right guard after a strong performance in training camp and the preseason.
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But Becton is not looking forward to his return to MetLife, especially playing on the stadium’s synthetic turf.
“You can just tell the difference,” Becton told CBS Sports. “Like, if you was to get on that turf and go on a different turf. You can tell. It’s a night-and-day difference in turf. It just feels lifted. There’s a lot of things that [don’t] feel right about that turf.”
The stadium switched over to turf during Becton’s stint with the Jets ahead of the 2023 season. The turf continues to be an ongoing topic of concern with players around the league — including Jets receiver Garrett Wilson, who once labeled the turf as “garbage.”
But Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson doesn’t seem to have a problem with it.
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“For some reason, I’ve always liked playing at MetLife Stadium, I don’t know why. It gets a lot of complaints,” Johnson told The Inquirer as he sat next to Becton, who let out a chuckle.
Maybe that’s because Johnson hasn’t done much losing there? He’s 8-4 combined at MetLife Stadium in his career and will look to improve on that Sunday against the Giants.
Staff writer Gabriela Carroll contributed to this article.